A collection of silver items found by chance in an Edinburgh family’s attic, having been packed away for years, is expected to fetch up to £23,000 when it is sold at auction.
The more than 100 pieces of British and continental silver dating from the early 18th to the early 20th centuries was uncovered during preparations for the sale of a Georgian family home.
The family found the silver packed inside several dust-covered wooden chests and wrapped in old newspapers and linen.
The collection had been untouched for generations, with the family completely unaware of its existence, or significance.
A spokesperson for the family said: “We discovered the collection completely by accident while clearing out our mother’s home, which has been in our family for generations but is now being sold.
“We always knew there had been someone in the family who collected, as there was always art around us at home, but none of us had any idea about the silver, or that so much had been carefully stored away for so long.
“Finding the old chests and unwrapping each piece felt like uncovering a forgotten chapter of our family’s history.
“It has been a real delight to go through this remarkable treasure trove together and we’re thrilled that these beautiful objects will now be appreciated by a wider audience.”
The collection was assembled over several generations of the same family, before it is believed to have been placed into storage sometime during the early 20th century.
As ownership of the house passed through subsequent generations, knowledge of the collection gradually faded, leaving the chests undisturbed in the attic until their recent discovery.
Among the items is a rare Victorian sterling silver travelling shaving brush, made in London in 1867 by Frances Douglas, one of the few women to run a successful silversmithing workshop in the 19th century, and an early 20th century silver spy glass signed by Ramsden of London.
Other finds include a George II silver salt cellar, hallmarked for Newcastle in 1728; an Edwardian silver jewellery box, crafted in Chester in 1908; and a Russian silver tankard by the Moscow silversmith Nikolai Pavlov, dating from between 1882 and 1898.
In total the collection is estimated to be worth at least £23,000.
It will be offered for sale at Elmwood’s auctioneers in London on Friday.
Joe Kendrick, head of sale at Elmwood’s, said: “It is exceptionally rare to discover a collection of this quality and scale that has remained untouched for so many years.
“The pieces are remarkably well preserved, having spent decades protected from light and handling in the attic.
“Discoveries like this offer an extraordinary snapshot of over 200 years of silversmithing, from elegant Georgian tableware to unusual Victorian novelty pieces that rarely appear on the market.”